Goldwork History

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			GOLDWORK
			From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 19th century Spain 20th century Goldwork is the art of embroidery using metal threads. It is particularly prized for the way light plays on it. The term "goldwork" is used even when the threads are imitation gold, silver, or copper. The metal wires used to make the threads have never been entirely gold; they have always been gold-coated silver (silver-gilt) or cheaper metals, and even then the "gold" often contains a very low percent of real gold. Most metal threads are available in silver and sometimes copper as well as gold; some are available in colors as well. Goldwork is always surface embroidery and free embroidery; the vast majority is a form of laid work or couching; that is, the gold threads are held onto the surface of the fabric by a second thread, usually of fine silk. The ends of the thread, depending on type, are simply cut off, or are pulled through to the back of the embroidery and carefully secured with the couching thread. A tool called a mellore or a stilleto is used to help position the threads and create the holes needed to pull them through. Goldwork was originally developed in Asia, and has been used for at least 2000 years. Its' use reached a remarkable level of skill in the Middle Ages, when a style called Opus Anglicanum was developed in England and used extensively in church vestments and hangings. After this period it was also used frequently in the clothing and furnishings of the royalty and nobility throughout Europe, and still later on military and other regalia. Goldwork is currently a fairly uncommon skill, even among embroiderers who work in other free embroidery styles; it is now most commonly used for the highest-quality church vestments and art embroidery. It has always been reserved for occasional and special use only, due to both the expense of the materials and the time to create the embroidery, and because the threads - no matter how expertly applied - will not hold up to frequent laundering of any kind. Types of metal thread A variety of threads exists, in order to create differing textures. Passing is the most basic and common thread used in goldwork; it consists of a thin strip of metal wound around a core of cotton or silk. For gold thread this is typically yellow, or in older examples orange; for silver, white or gray. This is always attached by couching, either one or two threads at a time, and pulled through to the back to secure it. When multiple threads must be laid next to each other, a technique called bricking is used: the position of the couching stitches is offset between rows, producing an appearance similar to a brick wall. This same type of thread is used in making cloth of gold. Japan thread, sometimes called jap, is a cheaper replacement for passing, and is far more commonly used in modern goldwork. It appears nearly identical, but rather than a strip of metal, a strip of foil paper is wrapped around the core. Detail of embroidered antependium, Ghent, 1660. Buillion or Purl is structurally a very long spring, hollow at the core; it can be stretched apart slightly and couched between the wraps of wire, or cut into short lengths and applied like beads. This thread comes in both shiny and matte versions. Jaceron or Pearl purl is similar to buillion, but with a much wider piece of metal used in making it, such that it looks like a string of pearl-like beads when couched down between the wraps of metal. Lizerine is a very similar thread. Freize or Check purl is again similar, but the metal used is shaped differently, producing a faceted, sparkly look. Faconnee or Crimped purl is almost identical to buillion, but has been crimped at intervals. Rococco and the similar Crinkle cordonnet are made of wire tightly wrapped around a cotton core, with a wavy or kinked appearance. Milliary wire is a wire core wrapped with finer wire. Plate is a strip of metal a few millimeters (1/8") wide; often this is used to fill small shapes by folding it back and forth, hiding the couching stitches under the folds. Flat Worm or simply Oval thread is a thin plate wrapped around a yarn core and flattened slightly. This is used like plate, but is considerably easier to work with. Twists or Torsade, threads made of multiple strands of metal twisted together are also sometimes used, some of which, such as Soutache, sometimes have different colored metals or colored non-metal threads twisted together. These are either couched like passing, with the couching thread visible, or with the thread angled with the twist to make it invisible. In addition, paillettes or spangles (sequins of real metal), small pieces of appliqued rich fabric or kid leather, pearls, and real or imitation gems are commonly used as accents, and felt or string padding may be used to create raised areas or texture. Silk thread work in satin stitch or other stitches is often combined with goldwork, and in some periods goldwork was combined with blackwork embroidery as well. Or nué Hood of a cope worked in the or nué technique Or nué is a special technique invented in the 15th century, wherein many threads of passing or Japan thread are laid down parallel and touching. By varying the spacing and color of the couching stitches, elaborate, gleaming images can be created. This is not uncommonly used to depict the garments of saints in church embroidery. by Pamela Foxhill Goldwork has long been associated with wealth, power and status. The first gold threads were strands of beaten gold, flattened and then cut into strips. Originating in the east, there are references in the Old Testament, of gold being cut into wires to be used in fine linen. When silk making was smuggled to the west, the Byzantine created their own Imperial monopoly on the production of gold and silk production. Tyre, now Beirut, was the main distribution center for metal and silk threads. In the early days, commercial work was completed by professionally skilled men. Workshops were set up to keep up with the heavy demand of wall hangings, furnishings, garments and tents. When Constantine the Great turned to Christianity, ecclesiastical textiles and furnishings became the primary export for the next thousand years. Eventually the decline of Constantinople, led way for the West to produce embroidered textiles for smaller churches. The tenth-century stole and maniple of St. Cuthbert from Durham Cathedral is the earliest surviving example of English metal-thread work. The colour and brilliance was displayed on the armor used in jousts and on the battlefield. Often used to distinguish one side from the other. The manufacturing of portable furnishings became a political statement. Often becoming a display of one-upmanship. The use of jewel on most textiles and goods insured the demise of these items. When hard times came, the pieces were often melted down to reclaim the gold. By the eighteenth century, the growth of the business man, the French Revolution and the broadcloth of the age industry surmised the decline of glitter. Goldwork today is far from what it was. Today we have a multitude of fibers, colors and textures. Most are made of metallized rayon, cotton and silk. Rarely are items made with true gold. The cost and versatility of new fibers has created a new world of display. Churches still use the look of shining glitter but the emphasis is now on the excellence of the design. Today gold fibers can be found in machine embroidery thread, crinkled, fancy, passing thread, imitation Japanese, gimp, knitting yarns and cords, plate, smooth purl, check purl, rough purl, Russia braid and a twist.

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